P 021216Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0950
INFO AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 
AMEMBASSY VATICAN

UNCLAS VATICAN 000047 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PHUM PREL KPAO KIRF SOCI XM XL CU VT
SUBJECT: EMBASSY CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS LATIN AMERICAN AND CATHOLIC 
CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
¶1. Summary.  Ambassador Glendon recently hosted a substantive 
and well-attended conference commemorating the 60th Anniversary 
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the 
critical contributions of Latin American countries and Catholic 
social teachings to the creation of that document.  In addition 
to Ambassador Glendon, WHA Assistant Secretary Shannon and 
Professor Paolo Carozza -- the newly elected chairman of the 
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights -- addressed the 
conference.  There was also a moving presentation by Pablo 
Perez-Cisneros, the son of Guy Perez-Cisneros, who as Cuba's UN 
delegate in 1940s played an important role in the creation of 
the UDHR.  More than 140 diplomats, academics, journalists, and 
students attended the conference.  Media coverage was extensive: 
Ambassador Glendon's remarks were reprinted in their entirety in 
the Vatican's daily newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, and 
additional reports appeared in a wide variety of national and 
international outlets.  This conference is the first in a series 
Embassy Vatican has planned on the theme of Human Rights.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
Honoring the Past, Committing to the Future 
 
¶2.  The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, together with the Chilean 
and Costa Rican Embassies to the Holy See, sponsored a 
conference entitled "The Latin American Human Rights Project: 
Past, Present, and Future." The conference took place on May 2, 
2008, at the Pontifical University Regina Apostolorum.  Speakers 
at the conference included Assistant Secretary Thomas A. 
Shannon, Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon, Prof. Paolo Carozza, Prof. 
Maria Sara Rodriguez Pinto, Mr. Pablo Perez-Cisneros, Dr. Guzman 
Carriquiry of the Holy See, as well as the Ambassadors of Chile, 
Costa Rica, Panama, and Brazil to the Holy See. Financial 
support for the conference was provided by the Knights of 
Columbus. 
 
¶3.  The conference highlighted the oft-forgotten contributions 
of Latin American countries such as Chile, Costa Rica, and Cuba 
to the drafting and implementation of the UDHR, and underscored 
the region's continuing contribution to the human rights 
dialogue.  Assistant Secretary Shannon examined the continuing 
vitality of the human rights project in the Americas, while 
Ambassador Glendon delivered a speech that highlighted the many 
contributions of Latin American countries to the creation of the 
UDHR.  The background to those contributions was explored in a 
speech by Professor Paolo Carozza in which he examined the 
origins of the human rights tradition in Latin America.  One 
strong influence throughout the Latin American human rights 
tradition was Catholic social thought, the subject of two 
afternoon lectures by Dr. Guzman Carriquiry and Prof. Maria Sara 
Rodriguez Pinto. 
 
¶4. The important individual role played by Latin American 
delegates at the time of the UDHR's drafting was the subject of 
moving tributes.  The principal leader of the Latin American 
group in 1948 was a charismatic young Cuban representative named 
Guy Perez Cisneros.  His son, Pablo Perez-Cisneros, attended the 
conference and recounted his father's contributions to the UDHR, 
noting the gap between the Cuba of his father's day and the 
deplorable state of human rights under the present regime.  The 
work of Guy Perez-Cisneros and other delegates was captured in a 
12-minute video presentation featuring archival footage of 
Eleanor Roosevelt and Guy Perez-Cisneros' UN speech in support 
of the UDHR. The Chilean and Panamanian Ambassadors to the Holy 
See also spoke about the contributions of their UN delegates to 
the formation of the UDHR. 
 
 
Media Coverage Highlights Human Rights 
 
¶5.  The conference themes reached an audience far beyond those 
in attendance through wide-ranging press coverage in the 
national and international media.  In addition to full coverage 
in the Vatican's daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, 
Ambassador Glendon also conducted interviews with ZENIT and 
Catholic News Service, both of which are distributed 
internationally in multiple languages, as well as with the 
regional Italian daily La Sicilia.  In addition, the 
international TV and production company Rome Reports recorded 
the entire conference for use in reports broadcast throughout 
Central and South America.  The conference was also was recorded 
by Embassy personnel for use on Embassy Vatican's website, where 
the speakers' remarks will be featured and published in their 
entirety. 
 
 
Looking Ahead 
 
¶6.  The conference was the first in a series of planned 
conferences designed to celebrate the 60th Anniversaries of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide 
Convention by highlighting the shared commitment of the United 
States and the Holy See to human rights and human dignity.  The 
next conference will take place on October 16, 2008, and will 
examine the question of the universality of human rights in a 
multi-cultural world. 
 
GLENDON